Heather Anderson (politician)

Heather Anderson (born January 31, 1959 Dundee) is a Scottish politician who briefly served as the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Scotland constituency in late January 2020.[1][2]

Heather Anderson
Member of the European Parliament
for Scotland
In office
27 January 2020 – 31 January 2020
Preceded byAlyn Smith
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1959-01-31) 31 January 1959
Dundee, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Political partyScottish National Party
ProfessionFarmer

Political career

Anderson was elected as a councillor for the Tweeddale West ward at the 2017 Scottish Borders Council election.[3][4]

She was originally placed fifth on the Scottish National Party list for the 2019 European Parliament election, in which the party won three seats. However, following the election to the UK House of Commons of first-placed Alyn Smith at the 2019 United Kingdom general election, he ceased to be an MEP, since an individual cannot serve as a representative in both a member state's legislature and the European Parliament.[5] Fourth-placed Margaret Ferrier was also elected to the UK parliament at the same election. This made Anderson eligible for the newly vacant SNP seat,[6][7] which she took up on 27 January 2020. She would, however, serve as an MEP for only four days, until 31 January when the Brexit process completed.[4][5][8][9]

Personal life

Anderson is an organic farmer who owns her own produce and butcher's shop in the Scottish Borders.[4][6]

References
  1. Smith, Alyn (8 January 2020). "Fighting the good fight for Scotland". The Parliament Magazine.
  2. "Home | Heather ANDERSON | MEPs | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu.
  3. Council, Scottish Borders. "Local government election results 2017". www.scotborders.gov.uk.
  4. Kelly, Paul (30 December 2019). "Borders councillor to take on MEP's role for matter of weeks". www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  5. "New Scottish MEP sworn in - for four days". BBC News. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  6. Davidson, Jenni (17 December 2019). "Heather Anderson to replace Alyn Smith as SNP MEP until Brexit". Holyrood Website.
  7. Hannan, Martin (22 December 2019). "New SNP MEP: Scotland is merely in temporary exile over Brexit". The National.
  8. "New Scottish MEP sworn in - for four days". 28 January 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  9. Allegretti, Aubrey (28 January 2020). "New Scottish MEP Heather Anderson starts role four days before Brexit". Sky News. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
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